Talk me out of a Pontiac G8?

[Bart]

Well done on both the new(ish) car and truck. I like the G8 and think it would be a fun commuter.

 

[mbryson]

So I'm still liking this Indian (Dodge is a Dodge with a tractor motor). I find REASONS to burn fuel in this thing. So far I'm averaging 22.4 mpg in it. With me still "exploring" the car, that's pretty damn respectable. I've put 1200 miles on it already

 

[Greg]

That's awesome Marc! It is a very good looking car, but grown up enough that it's not a cop-magnet. You planning any engine mods or anything? Better exhaust would be great, but may attract more attention than you like.

I've been looking for a replacement DD and was test driving VW's over the weekend. One dealership had a clean '99 Corvette in Silver.... 345 HP I believe and only $15k. I've never been a Corvette kinda guy, but that sure would get me to work & back fast! :freak:

 

[mbryson]

That's awesome Marc! It is a very good looking car, but grown up enough that it's not a cop-magnet. You planning any engine mods or anything? Better exhaust would be great, but may attract more attention than you like.

I've been looking for a replacement DD and was test driving VW's over the weekend. One dealership had a clean '99 Corvette in Silver.... 345 HP I believe and only $15k. I've never been a Corvette kinda guy, but that sure would get me to work & back fast! :freak:

Mod planning, no. I'm sure an intake and exhaust will find their way there sometime? One of the big reasons the JKU was a pain was because it was a 2nd toy. I'm trying to just let this be a car and not a "project".

I'm not a big fan of late model Corvettes but I'm SURE they perform well. I just think they're not as pretty as the older ones. You can snag a 50k mile G8 for under $20k. Some are down around the $15k mark. GTO are $15k and less and you can make them as fast as you want them to be (like any LS car). I tried to follow a blue late model Mustang GT up the Bountiful 500 south on-ramp and he was GONE before I could even make the turn and lay into the throttle. I know you're not a F*rd guy but the 5.0 Coyote car is pretty nice and fast.

 

[Hickey]

I'm not a Mustang guy, except for the pre 70 stuff, but that new body and the coyote got me wanting one.

If either of you are looking for a low mileage, high mpg commuter, we may be interested in letting our Accord Coupe go.

On a related Indian note, I saw a late model Camaro with the full Bandit T/A deal on I 15 this afternoon.

 

[mbryson]

JUST got back from an Ogden Canyon-Trappers loop?-Weber Canyon cruise. This thing is awesome in the canyons in manual shift mode. I had to keep my speed in check all the way. It handles well in stock form for a heavy car. Used up $6 in fuel

 

[Hickey]

JUST got back from an Ogden Canyon-Trappers loop?-Weber Canyon cruise. This thing is awesome in the canyons in manual shift mode. I had to keep my speed in check all the way. It handles well in stock form for a heavy car. Used up $6 in fuel

Sounds like you've got plenty of road trips coming your way.

 

[mbryson]

Sounds like you've got plenty of road trips coming your way.

I'm down to 20.8 mpg on the computer since my little Sunday drive. There were a lot of LS powered cars on this road today. Passed a late model 'vette and a couple Camaros coming at me. The 'vette waved.... I thought those guys only waved at other 'vettes and most don't (save the wave and everything). I had a WJ try to keep with me at the top of the Trappers loop. He stayed somewhat with me around the 40 mph corners and through town. I dusted him on the on-ramp to 84. Didn't see him again.

 

[Bart]

Sounds like it's turning out to be a fun acquisition. Enjoy.

 

[Jinx]

This conversation kind of reminds me of when Shawn got his WRX, fun toys.

I might get back there some day, but for now I will just to thinking about what would be cool...

 

[Gravy]

. One dealership had a clean '99 Corvette in Silver.... 345 HP I believe and only $15k. I've never been a Corvette kinda guy, but that sure would get me to work & back fast! :freak:

Glenwood Canyon in a vette would be fun unless there was any weather at all.

 

[Greg]

Glenwood Canyon in a vette would be fun unless there was any weather at all.

A few years ago I watched a group of about 7-8 Vipers coming West into the canyon from Dotsero... they were headed to MMP for some big event and I'd guess they were ALL doing 120-130 before dropping into the canyon! :freak:

 

[Brian P]

I'm down to 20.8 mpg on the computer since my little Sunday drive. There were a lot of LS powered cars on this road today. Passed a late model 'vette and a couple Camaros coming at me. The 'vette waved.... I thought those guys only waved at other 'vettes and most don't (save the wave and everything). I had a WJ try to keep with me at the top of the Trappers loop. He stayed somewhat with me around the 40 mph corners and through town. I dusted him on the on-ramp to 84. Didn't see him again.

I get that all the time in the M3, minding my own business and I pass someone, it's like I've insulted their mother, they just gotta slide in and draft me... That or the soccer mom in her mini van/rally car.
Congrats on the purchase, I love those twisty roads.

 

[mbryson]

Just chatted with Cuban M earlier today and he reminded me of this thread. I still REALLY dig this car. Not sure if it's my favorite car I've ever owned (I've had at least 80-90 cars/trucks/Jeeps if you include my wife's cars) but it's definitely in the top 5. I have had a few issues with my right knee driving at times. I'm still trying to tell if that's my knee or the car seating position vs. a truck. I think it's the knee (whew:thumbs rather than the car.

My mpg is still sitting around 22-23 mpg. I've never really made it back to the 25-26 mpg of the previous owner . The skinny pedal is kinda nutty and a little to fun. The car has a speed alarm you can set. I have it set at 80 and I'm SURE that's saved me a few tickets as you just don't have a clue how fast you're going in this thing.

It'll hit triple digit speeds pretty fast. Most trips, I reset all the trip data on my GPS. On my way to Vegas this Nov, I was comfortably cruising at 88-90 mph in the 85 mph speed zones and passed a few big trucks. Just out of habit (I'm not sure if it's good or bad habit?) I like to not dilly-dally around the 80k dudes and just get out of their way in case they need to make an evasive maneuver or something. I did come up on quite a few big trucks hitting their speed governor (I assume) at 70-75 mph and decided to pass as quickly as possible then coast after I've moved back from the hammer lane until the cruise takes over again. Got to Vegas and checked my avg moving speed and elapsed time. Both of those were reasonable but I was a little alarmed at my "max speed" that I'd imagine is when I was passing a slower vehicle. It was 108 mph... Thing was stable as a rock at those speeds. Not sure at what speed it'd get squirrelly?

The car has a couple little GM build issues. Nothing serious at all but a couple minor annoyances. Nothing a F*rd or Chrysler wouldn't have. I've put almost 9k miles on it since late July . I'd LOVE this thing with a manual trans (which is available in the G8 GXP---they are still up there in price a wee bit) but the auto is pretty good, just not as fast shifting in manual mode as I'd like it to be.

If you're interested in one, I'd recommend it. Glad to take you for a test drive . V8, RWD, comfy, spacious and possibly one of the most modifiable V8's the world has ever seen? Some hard core LS guys are putting 700-900 hp down in their G8s. I'm not sure I'm interested in going there but it's amazing the potential power a 6.0L LS has. For as big as it is, it handles pretty well. Throwing it through a canyon road is WAY easy to maintain legal speeds but if you push it a LOT, you can really feel the weight. For "reasonable" speeds, it handles incredibly well with stock setup.

 

[mbryson]

Well, this just happened at lunch today....

Still like the car. I’m shocked I have been “responsible” in it. I’ve accidentally hit speeds passing other vehicles at alarming numbers.



Whoops



My wife was driving this for about a year or so between selling the Nissan XTerra and buying the 2015 Navigator. She had a gas pump jump out in front of her and did a wee bit of damage.

Not knowing which shop to go to, I called one of my old friends to track down another old friend that I knew was still in the body shop industry. He was now back in the body shop industry at a shop we used to work at along with a couple other guys that had retired from being cops or whatever.

No brainer to take it to Preston’s Auto Body in Smithfield. You can see the work. The insurance company insisted on a used door despite my protests. The shop got me a new door as you can tell. They didn’t bondo up the dogleg on the quarter panel like other shops would have done. Of course the patch is red but the work is pretty impressive.



Impressive work to me. Silver can be a real beast to match. Solid work

 

[Gravy]

Looks like they did an impressive job.

 

[Trate D]

Glad you had good results. My last trip to a body shop was a joke and I am still not happy with the outcome. That’s what happens on the typical insurance job.... In and out as fast as they can.

 

[mbryson]

I know Smithfield isn’t exactly close but quality work was worth it to me. I know the body man (who’s now 70 yrs old and doesn’t want to quit working because he thinks he’ll die), the prep guy, shop foreman and shop owner. They do high quality work there. Well worth the drive to me to know I was getting good quality work.

 

[mbryson]

Hard day. I REALLY liked that car. It’s available at Performance Ford if someone is looking. Starting to cull the herd a little

 

[4x4_Welder]

You're making me miss my fast car, it's sitting in storage while the insurance of the ass clown that hit me tries to only pay 1/3 it's value. My wife wants something new (like we can afford that) so the Explorer and that will most likely be gone.